


A Playwright's Scandal

by SilverLynxx



Category: The Greatest Showman (2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dad!Phillip, Drabble, Gen, M/M, Short, Short & Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-15
Updated: 2018-02-15
Packaged: 2019-03-19 00:23:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13692951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverLynxx/pseuds/SilverLynxx
Summary: "I admire what you've managed to achieve, Mr Barnum, but I'm afraid there's nothing I can do for you. I can't just run away and join the circus," he replies flatly, draining his tumbler and standing.





	A Playwright's Scandal

**Author's Note:**

> **unedited**   
> 
> 
> So this is just a super short Daddy!Phillip retelling of the Bar Scene.
> 
> I thought if I maybe wrote something longer, Helen would be Phil's daughter, rather than inventing a character, which is why it implies Barnum only has one daughter here (Caroline).
> 
> I'm really tempted to turn this into a full fic, so it's tagged Phin/Phillip because while this itself is gen, a longer one would be barlyle.
> 
> [Read On Tumblr](http://silverlynxx.tumblr.com/post/170943264905/a-playwrights-scandal)   
> 

A bit of a scandal they'd said.  
  
Barnum looks at the man sat at the bar alongside him, staring deep into his drink. The weariness in his eyes holds a weight surpassing his thirty years.  
  
He was a handsome man, with the brightest blue eyes Barnum had ever seen, and a smile he knew could make hearts flutter when not tapered with ennui.  
  
"I admire what you've managed to achieve, Mr Barnum, but I'm afraid there's nothing I can do for you. I can't just run away and join the circus," he replies flatly, draining his tumbler and standing.  
  
Barnum abandons his own drink on the bar top, following the playwright to the coat rack.  
  
"So you would rather spend your days in misery, in a society that whispers behind your back and a livelihood that brings you nothing but dissatisfaction?"  
  
Phillip turns sharply, a surprising vehemency igniting in the man. "My life and how I choose to lead it are not of your concern, Barnum. As unfulfilling as it is, repackaging the same tales of virtue over and over in a different bow, it pays well," he stops, holding Barnum's stare.

He must see something there; surprise, concern, or perhaps a much happier version of himself. A kindred spirit in the man who fought to provide everything for his daughter, and did so by making a business out of joy itself.

"I have to think of my daughter," he admits at last. It was akin to handing his own sword over to Barnum and baring his neck to the blade of it.  
  
It takes Barnum very little time to piece it all together. A child out of wedlock, no mother in the picture; a scandal indeed.  
  
Barnum also recognises the plea, artfully masked within his confession. And he wants to provide the escape the man desperately seeks, even if Phillip himself will not admit to it.  
  
"Would your daughter not be happier in a place she was not looked down on as a mistake?" he says softly.

The helplessness in Phillip's eyes is telling, the pain of a father unable to protect his daughter from the vitriol of the people who were meant to care for her.  
  
"18 percent. Your share of the show," he offers his hand. Phillip stares long and hard, his consideration difficult to gauge.  
  
"Mr Barnum, looks like you have yourself a junior partner." His hand slots neatly into Barnum's, gripping it like a lifeline.  
  
Barnum grins. "What I have is an over compensated apprentice," he holds on tight, promising to not let him go.


End file.
